Ruling party's division deepens over Yoon's impeachment, party membership

President continues to exercise power despite promise to step aside

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Factional infighting is deepening in the ruling People Power Party (PPP) as a growing number of members are shifting their stance to support a parliamentary vote to impeach President Yoon Suk Yeol over his short-lived imposition of martial law, according to party officials and political watchers, Friday.

The plenary session on Yoon's impeachment will be held at 4 p.m., Saturday, after opposition parties reintroduced a new impeachment motion on Thursday. The motion was presented to the National Assembly on Friday. The first impeachment vote last Saturday was scrapped after PPP lawmakers boycotted it, causing it to fail to meet the quorum.

So far, seven PPP lawmakers — Kim Sang-wook, Kim Yea-ji, Kim Jae-sub, Ahn Cheol-soo, Cho Kyoung-tae, Jin Jong-oh and Han Zee-a — have publicly supported a vote to impeach him.

Given that the opposition bloc holds 192 seats in the 300-member assembly, at least eight PPP lawmakers need to vote for Yoon’s impeachment in order to pass the bill with the two-thirds majority that is required.

Things took a drastic turn after PPP leader Han Dong-hoon publicly threw his support behind the move to impeach Yoon on Thursday, saying that it has become clearer that the president is no longer able to fulfill his duties. Han convened the ethics committee on Thursday night to discuss whether to oust Yoon from the party.

“We have initiated disciplinary proceedings against the president. Considering the seriousness of the matter, we decided to proceed cautiously regarding the substance and procedures,” the ethics committee said in a statement.

Rep. Kim Sang-wook, one of three PPP lawmakers who participated in last week's impeachment vote and stated that he would no longer join his party’s boycott of Yoon’s impeachment, staged a solo protest at the National Assembly on Friday, urging other PPP members to vote in favor of Yoon’s impeachment.

“Yoon is a traitor. He betrayed the conservatives and the public's trust. I request the ruling party to acknowledge our fault and cooperate with the opposition-led impeachment motion. I will vote in favor of Yoon’s impeachment,” Kim said.

However, the PPP’s new floor leader, Rep. Kweon Seong-dong, and the pro-Yoon faction vowed to protect the president ahead of the impeachment vote.

Kweon said the party will hold a general meeting of its lawmakers on Saturday morning and discuss the opposition-led impeachment motion against Yoon.

“For now, the ruling party is against the impeachment motion. We will hold discussions on Saturday morning ahead of the vote and decide on the party line and whether to allow lawmakers to vote freely,” Kweon said during a press conference on Friday.

On the ethics committee meeting to review Yoon’s expulsion from the party, he said "I think it would be better to convey the party’s opinion to the presidential office and have the president make a decision on his own."

Rep. Yoon Sang-hyun, a staunch supporter of Yoon within the PPP, criticized those who are turning against the president.

“How can we even think of removing the president from the party? Convening the ethics committee to review such an agenda without even going through the process of gathering opinions from party members is problematic," he said.

Former President Park Geun-hye was expelled from the Liberty Korea Party, the predecessor of the PPP, in October 2017 due to a corruption scandal. This was roughly eight months after the Constitutional Court decided to impeach her.

Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) leader Lee Jae-myung said on Friday that the best way to restore order in the country is to impeach Yoon, saying that “history will remember their decisions.”

"All lawmakers, regardless of their political party or ideology, have a duty to respect the Constitution and follow the order of their sovereign,” Lee said. "What the lawmakers must protect is neither Yoon nor the ruling party, but the lives of the people wailing out in the freezing streets," he added.

Meanwhile, Yoon has requested that the National Assembly approve his appointment of Ma Yong-ju as a new Supreme Court judge in what appears to be a move to break his own promise of relinquishing his presidential power and authority.

On Dec. 7, Yoon promised in a public address that he would entrust state affairs to the ruling party and the government as political turmoil deepened over his sudden martial law declaration.